Global studies of wastewater treatment on antibiotic resistance by nanopore sequencing

There is concern that the microbially-rich activated sludge (AS) process of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) could enhance the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) present in sewage. We applied nanopore sequencing to profile ARGs and neighboring genes, in terms of taxonomic identity and mobility, in influent sewage and AS from five WWTPs on three continents.